Building a Sovereign Cloud for Moroccan and African Customers: Embracing Digital Sovereignty
In an era where digital transformation is essential, PowerM has launched an initiative to develop a sovereign cloud based on IBM technologies, specifically designed for Moroccan and African clients classified as OIV (Organismes d’Importance Vitale). This endeavor is anchored in five foundational pillars that guide our strategy for secure cloud migration and operational excellence.
Understanding the Challenges of Cloud Migration
Transitioning to the cloud presents unique challenges. The abstraction of resources—encompassing networks, storage, computing, containers, microservices, and serverless architectures—often obscures the complexities involved in implementation and management. Clients may find it difficult to discern who manages their cloud services, where they are managed, and the timing of such operations. This delivery model as a service amplifies the issue of trust, a crucial factor in the cloud landscape.
For sovereign cloud solutions, additional hurdles come into play. Organizations must navigate stringent compliance requirements related to data sovereignty and privacy laws. Resource availability may be limited compared to major hyperscale providers, and the specialized nature of sovereign cloud services often results in higher costs. This can complicate budget management, necessitating a careful approach to financial planning.
The Five Pillars of Our Sovereign Cloud Strategy
At PowerM, we believe in a structured approach to building a sovereign cloud that addresses these challenges effectively:
1. Multi-Cloud: We advocate for a multi-cloud strategy that empowers organizations to leverage the strengths of various providers. This flexibility minimizes vendor lock-in and allows clients to select services that best meet their requirements.
2. Hybrid Cloud: Our hybrid cloud model integrates on-premises infrastructure with cloud services, providing a balanced approach to resource management.
3. Open Standards: By committing to open standards, we promote interoperability and reduce reliance on proprietary technologies, ensuring greater flexibility for our clients.
4. Local Management and Operation: We emphasize that cloud services should be managed and operated by local ecosystems. This approach fosters trust and accountability, tailoring services to meet the community's specific needs.
5. Modernization and Move to Cloud Hub: We prioritize the modernization of existing applications and infrastructure. Establishing a centralized cloud hub streamlines operations, enhances efficiency, and optimizes cloud resource utilization.
Introducing rKube and rCloud
In alignment with these pillars, we have developed the first open, secure, hybrid, and multi-cloud solution in collaboration with ACS, the UM6P ecosystem, PowerM, IBM, and the rKube team. This innovative solution provides our customers with an experience comparable to that of hyperscalers, enriched by a provisioning portal and a transparent billing system. With operations managed locally, our solution ensures alignment with regional needs and offers robust support.
The Solution:
rKube rCloud
Our rCloud platform enables seamless workload management across both cloud and on-premises environments. By offering IBM Power and LinuxONE as a service and Container-as-a-Service (CaaS) via RedHat OpenShift, rCloud provides a hybrid multicloud solution that has already been deployed by Morocco’s largest cloud provider (Atlas Cloud Services).
This platform ensures efficient integration and scalability while addressing technical debt and system complexity. It supports continuous modernization and offers actionable insights, utilizing IBM Cloud natively alongside tools like Turbonomic and Aspera.
rKubeIO Modernization Hub:
rKubeIO hub empowers digital transformation with modules for app lifecycle, from refactoring to security. It modernizes monolithic apps into microservices and offers Hybrid Cloud Management for private and public clouds. Powered by IBM Watson, Turbonomic, Instana Observability , CP4A, WHE and IBM Watsonx
rKube Modernize your legacy applications with ease using our 10 powerful R modules and achieve up to 10x faster time to market, and impressive reductions in middleware licenses and cloud costs. Stay ahead of the competition with our efficient and effective solution.